Main menu

Pages

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Chicken with Asparagus and Three Cheeses

I'm going through my recipe archives and updating recipes that don't have photos. Sometimes I'll make a few slight changes to the recipe, like I did this time for an updated version with a little less sauce and less cheese. It's still rich and creamy enough that this should be a "once in a while" treat for South Beach Dieters.

I used low fat sharp cheddar for the cheese to sprinkle over the top. It tasted great, but the low fat cheese definitely doesn't melt as attractively as higher fat cheeses do. If I was making this for a special occasion, I'd splurge and go for something like Gruyere cheese instead of the low fat cheddar.

Preheat oven to 375. Trim all visible fat and membrane from chicken breasts and cut each one in half crosswise.

Season chicken with spices, then saute in large frying pan in about 1 T olive oil. Cook until chicken pieces are well browned on both sides. (You will have to turn each piece a couple of times to get this result. Don't rush this step.)

Meanwhile, cut off woody ends of asparagus. (Snap one piece to see how much to cut off, it will break off right where the woody part starts.) Cut asparagus diagonally into 2 inch pieces. Bring pan of barely salted water to a gentle boil, put asparagus in and boil 3 minutes, drain, then put asparagus in cold water to stop cooking and drain again. Let it drain well.

Spray casserole dish with nonstick spray. Layer browned chicken, then asparagus. Use chicken stock to deglaze pan that you cooked the chicken in and scrape up all little browned bits. Let stock simmer about five minutes. Lower heat and whisk sour cream into sauce and continue to heat over very low heat. When mixture is hot (but not boiling) add goat cheese and Parmesan and whisk into sauce until melted. Do not boil or the mixture will separate.

Pour sauce over chicken and asparagus and sprinkle sharp cheddar over top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is just starting to bubble. (Don't cook it too long or the sauce will separate.)

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Braden, you're so sweet. I think you were one of my very first readers!

Sher, thanks (it's the camera, as you know!)

Karina, great minds thinking alike and all that because when I was making this I thought about it being gluten-free. I was pretty sure it was. Thanks for putting me in the search engine. I need to add that to my links. (I'll put it on my ever-growing list of things to do.)

Asparagus seems to be in the air these days. (Is that a wierd image, or what?) Maybe it's our longing for spring, but everyone seems to be eating them. This looks like another great way to use them - thanks!

Thank you for this recipe --- Loved it! I found it really doable, and thats coming from a non-cook. I made it tonight but didn't have the goat cheese and cheddar so put parmesan and mozzarella instead. Hopefully I haven complete ingredients next time.

I made this for guests last night, substituting aged swiss cheese for most of the low-fat cheddar. I "sort of" made a double batch, but didn't have the right proportion of goat cheese. Nonetheless, I got lots of compliments on the sauce. My husband loves "chicken with sauce" and "asparagus" so it was perfect for him.

This recipe was awesome! I Googled recipes for chicken and asparagus at work (I knew that's all I had in the fridge) and your recipe came up. This is definitely one for the recipe book! Delicious and super easy - Thanks!

I made this for dinner last night and my teenage boy ate ALL of it! My hubby is out of town, so we deviated from SB friendly to go rogue. As I did not have goat cheese on hand, I added about 2 T of cream cheese to the sauce. I also sautéed 2 garlic cloves & 1/2 of a thinly sliced shallot before making the sauce to pour over the chicken in the baking dish. Tarragon, basil and a sprinkle of lemon pepper were added to the sauce. The nail-in-the-coffin on the SB healthiness were the bow-tie noodles I served this over. I think wild rice would have been better, but I was short on time. This recipe, as ALL the other ones I've tried, was wonderful!! THANK YOU so very much for posting these culinary gems. You're tops!

I am not a huge fan of goat cheese, but I keep seeing this recipe & it just looks sooooooo good! So I tried Asiago last night with this recipe! It was great but didn't have quite the "thickness" of a sauce, mostly the asiago stuck to the bottom of the pan...Any ideas on another cheese that might work? I have no idea about cheeses. Thanks for all the Phase 1 recipes! Being on SBD for over a year can make for a boring menu, but your blog has kept me steadfast & motivated! I know this is a lifetime change, not just a diet now, because I have seen how it can be done:)

Rachel maybe try a combination of cheese like Asiago and a good melting cheese like mozzarella. You could also use some low-fat cream cheese with the Asiago, which would give more body to the sauce. Glad you're enjoying the blog!

I made this tonight for night 2 of the south beach diet because I already had chicken, broth and cheese in the fridge. With it being the dead of winter, no fresh asparagus was available and i substituted brocolli which I steamed in the casserole dish in the microwave to save a dish... the broccoli was a good sub but will definitely make it according to the recipe in springtime. I also made the full amt of sauce for half the chicken with the fear that since it was a diet recipe there wouldn't be enough sauce. Well there ended up being too much, so now I know there was really no need to mess with the ratios! Full of flavor :-)

This recipe sounds wonderful. I do have one question. It says to cut the chicken breast crosswise into two pieces. Is that a crosswise cut as you would cut to stuff it thus making the breast thinner or crosswise so you still have two thick pieces out of one breast?

Dear Kalyn,Made this for dinner tonight. So So So good. Know this is an old post but use your recipes often. Have lost over 30# partly thanks to your recipes and Pam Anderson "The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great".You keep me inspired. Blessings Suze

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

Comments don't appear on the blog until they're approved by me, so no need to try again if you don't see it when you post the comment! Please make your signature a link to your site if you're a blogger, but other links posted within the body of the comment will never be published.

Food Blogger Love!

Copyright Notice

All Photos and Original Text (C) Copyright: 2005-2015, By Kalyn's Kitchen® LLC. I grant permission for photos and recipe links to be copied to social media and other sites, but not recipe text. All Other Rights Reserved. (Other bloggers may post their adapted version of any recipe found here, with their own photos and recipe text, but please link back to the original inspiring recipe on this site.)

Kalyn's Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.